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Virus Writers Beware! |
Hello
SpringNet1 Internet Subscribers!
To see what's inside this issue, take a look at the index to the left and thanks for reading! - The SpringNet1 Internet Team
|
Virus Writers Beware!
- Sasser Worm Tipsters To Share $250,000
Although he
damaged thousands of computers, a German teenager has wormed his way out of
jail. Sven Jaschan, 19, was sentenced last month for creating and unleashing
the Sasser computer worm, a type of self-replicating virus that crashed
computers worldwide within minutes of being released over the Internet back
in February 2004. The worm attacked holes in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 2000
and Windows XP operating systems.
Jaschan escaped jail time because he was a minor (age 17) when he committed
the crime. He was found guilty on three counts of computer sabotage and four
counts of data manipulation. Jaschan received a suspended sentence of 21
months and was ordered to perform 30 hours of community service.
Jaschan's loss was two informants' gain, however. In November 2003,
Microsoft put $5 million into its "Antivirus Reward Program" to pay tipsters
for information leading to the arrest and conviction of virus and worm
authors. Now that Jaschan has been convicted, two unidentified informants
will share a $250,000 bounty.
Microsoft is still offering $250,000 each for information that leads to the
conviction of the authors of three notorious viruses: the Blaster worm (MSBlast.A),
the Sobig virus, and the Mydoom.B worm. So if you have information about the
persons who created these viruses, Microsoft Corp., along with some
heavy-hitting government agencies, would welcome the opportunity to talk to
you. You can learn the procedures for reporting leads at this Microsoft web
page:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/.
Reminder: Please be sure to install and utilize virus-scanning
software, to update this software on a regular basis, and to scan all
incoming attachments before opening them, even if the attachment shows
coming from a trusted source. The ultimate responsibility of protecting your
computer against worms and viruses lies with you. In addition, many viruses
and worms spread not only via e-mail, but also through the sharing of files
when using floppy disks, zip disks, and networks, as well as when
downloading software. Be sure to scan these files for infections as well.
Make Your Life Easy
- Switch To Automatic Payment For Internet Service
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If you prefer a monthly statement from Springnet, consider receiving your
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to receive your internet bill via e-mail. We will set it up for you
promptly.
Ask The Help Desk - What
Is JPEG?
Question: I
hear people talk about JPEG files. I know they are pictures but what is
JPEG?
Answer: JPEG is named after the committee (the Joint Photographic
Experts Group) that created this technology. It's a very commonly used file
format that utilizes compression for saving and viewing images.
Most people who send photos to friends via e-mail attachments first save the
photos as JPEGs so that the recipient can easily open and view the photos.
Many digital cameras save photos directly to JPEG format.
Every commonly used e-mail software program (i.e. Outlook Express, Outlook,
Netscape Messenger, Entourage, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc.) has the ability to
display a JPEG image file. (There's no need to download the JPEG software
separately.) Also, if you save JPEG images from your e-mail client or Web
browser and store them on your hard drive, a simple double click will open
the JPEG image with a viewer application. On a Macintosh, the viewer app is
called "Preview" and on Windows XP it's called "Windows Picture and Fax
Viewer." Both are part of the standard operating system installation so
again there's no need to download any type of JPEG software.
Great Sites To Check Out This Month
Pizza
Delivered Fast When On The Road
http://local.google.com/ - Here's a
handy tool when you are traveling on the road and have access to an Internet
connection. Let's say you are in your hotel room and would like to have some
pizza delivered. Simply go to this site, type in "pizza delivery," and enter
the town and state in which you are lodging. The resulting page provides a
listing of pizza delivery restaurants along with phone numbers, addresses,
and a map showing the pizza restaurant locations within the local area.
Pretty amazing!
Slurpee Celebrates 40 Years Of Brain Freezes
http://slurpee.com/ - This year marks the
40th anniversary of 7-Eleven's Slurpee drink. Yes, the king of all brain
freeze concoctions was introduced back in 1965 by the 7-Eleven convenience
store chain. Today more than 13 million Slurpee drinks are consumed each
month. Did you know that residents of Manitoba, Canada, consume more Slurpee
beverages than any other city on earth? For more mind boggling
Slurpee-related trivia and to waste hours upon hours of your life playing
the mesmerizing Slurpeedrop Game, head over to this site.
New Animated Disney Film Released This Month
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/valiant/ - From the producer of
Shrek and Shrek 2 comes the new Disney animated film, Valiant.
The movie is loosely based on the true story of carrier pigeons used by the
United Kingdom during World War II to communicate with the Allied troops and
the French Resistance. Valiant, a comically clumsy pigeon who sneaks his way
into the Royal Pigeon Service, is assigned one of the most important jobs of
the war -- carrying essential messages just prior to the D-Day invasion. See
this site for trailer and clips, photos, games, and downloads.
Hurricane Season Is Back
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml - Tropical storm season is back
once again. The National Hurricane Center's Tropical Prediction website
includes links to the latest satellite imagery, an archived history of the
most destructive hurricanes of yesteryear, links to your closest National
Doppler Radar Site, and the official list of Worldwide Tropical Cyclone
Names. (Some pretty unique names are found here.) Batten down the hatches!
Livestrong Wristbands Support Cancer Research
http://nike.com/wearyellow/main.html - Last month Lance Armstrong won a
record-breaking seventh Tour de France. What makes this feat even more
amazing is that he did so as a cancer survivor. Lance's deep resolve has
provided inspiration to those affected by cancer around the world. The Lance
Armstrong Foundation's mission is to inspire and empower people with cancer
to live strong. Learn more about the power of yellow and what you can do to
support cancer research awareness.
Short Tutorial - Attaching
vCards To E-mail Messages
The use of
vCards (short for virtual business cards) is growing in popularity as a
signature-line replacement within e-mail messages, especially for business
e-mail. vCards are essentially digital business cards that can be attached
to your e-mail messages. They usually contain text-based information such as
address, phone and fax numbers, and website addresses. The cards appear as
attachments to e-mail messages with a .vcf file extension name.
To create your own vCard to attach to outgoing e-mail messages, you'll first
need to add your own information as a new contact in your address book. This
step is very similar with most any e-mail software program. When using
Outlook Express via Windows XP, here's how:
- Open your address book by clicking on the "Address Book" button on
your Outlook Express button bar.
- Click on the "New" button and select "New Contact" from the
drop-down menu. Fill out the data fields with your contact information.
Click "OK" when you're finished.
- To save a copy of your record as a vCard, select the contact profile
you just created in the address book and then click on the "File" menu.
Select "Export" from the drop-down menu and then "Business Card
(vCard)..." from the submenu.
- Click the "Save" button to save your vCard to your documents folder and then close your address book.
Attaching a vCard in Outlook Express When Using Windows XP:
- Click on "Tools" on your Outlook Express menu bar and select
"Options" from the drop-down menu. The Options window will open. Click
on the "Compose" tab.
- Under the "Business Cards" section, click on the checkbox next to
"Mail." Click on the downward pointing arrow next to the "Mail" field
and select your vCard. If you leave "Mail" checked, your vCard will be
added to each outgoing e-mail. If not, you can select it from the Insert
menu on each of your outgoing e-mail messages before sending them.
- Compose and send your message.
- Click on the Address Book icon on your Entourage button bar and
click on the contact card you want to send as a vCard.
- Click on the Entourage Contact menu and drop down to "Forward as
vCard." A new e-mail message will be created with the vCard information
that you have selected attached to it.
- Compose and send your message.
- Create a new message by clicking on the "New" button on the Mail.app
button bar.
- Click on the "Address" button on the Mail.app button bar. The
"Addresses" window will appear. Click on the entry's name in the "Name"
column and drag it to the body of the message.
- Compose and send your message.
- Click on the Thunderbird "Tools" menu and drop down to "Account
Settings." The "Account Settings" window will open. Click on your
account name and look for the checkbox next to "Attach my vCard to
messages" and click on it.
- Click on the "Edit Card..." button. Check your contact information
and click "OK."
- If you leave the box next to "Attach my vCard to messages" checked,
your vCard will attach to each outgoing e-mail for that account. If you
uncheck it, you can add it manually as needed.
- Create a new e-mail message by clicking on the "Write" button. If
you left the checkbox unchecked in step #3 above, click on the small
arrow next to the "Attach" button on the message button bar and select
"Personal Card (vCard)" from the drop-down menu.
- Compose and send your message.
- Click on the Netscape Messenger "Edit" menu and drop down to "Mail &
Newsgroups Account Settings." The "Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings"
window will open.
- Look for the checkbox next to "Attach my vCard to messages" and
click on it. Click on the "Edit Card" button. Check your contact
information and click "OK."
- If you leave the box next to "Attach my vCard to messages" checked,
your vCard will attach to each outgoing e-mail message for that account.
If you uncheck it, you can add the vCard manually as needed.
- Create a new e-mail message by clicking on the "Compose" button. If
you left the checkbox in step #3 above unchecked, click on the arrow on
the "Attach" button of the message button bar and select "Personal Card
(vCard)" from the drop-down menu.
- Compose and send your message.
We hope you
found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted
on the happenings at our shop. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive
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Thanks for your business!
Best regards,
Neal E. Miller
Springnet1, Inc.
Springnet1, Inc.
717 S Grand Ave West
Springfield, IL 62704
800-261-6006
217-241-6000
(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)
©2005
Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.
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